Lagos Civil Defence Office In Extortion and Corruption Scandal

A human rights group, the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has raised a petition accusing the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) of turning its office into a law court where stringent bail conditions are relayed to any innocent Nigerian that fell victim of their practice, making it to become an abode for bribery and extortion.

The group noted that the illegal actions of officials of the security outfit get noticed through a tip from a source who disclosed that many innocent Nigerians have been clamped down into their illegal detention beyond the twenty-four hours stipulated by the laws of the land, and some for more than two months without been tried in any court of law, adding that; “It was also discovered that they gave out the bail conditions in black and white like Court of Law where ransom were also demanded to be part of the stringent bail condition and any victim whose relatives failed to meet NSCDC’s requests, would be in their illegal detention unattended to, without any fair trial in the court of competent Jurisdiction than NSCDC’s court in their office.”

CHRSJ however stressed that “upon discovered of these illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional acts of the Lagos State Command of the Civil Defence Corps last week which were inimical to the principle of fairness, accountability and justice, it however forwarded a five (5) pages petition to the Commandant-General of the Civil Defence, President Muhammadu Buhari, Inspector General of Police(IGP), National Assembly, Lagos State governor and other appropriate authorities in the land over unlawful arrest of one Mr. Adenekan Adedeji since November 9th, 2015 till the time of filing this report for alleged indecent assault on two daughters of one Ayodele Ekundayo, where CHRSJ called for the independent panel of inquiry to unravel the veracity of the allegation against the suspect.”

According to the Petition Letter dated Thursday 19th November, 2015, which was signed by the CHRSJ’s Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman and copy was made available to Sahel Standard, the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) demands for the immediate arrest and outright dismissal of officers alleged to have been complicit in the barbaric act of lawlessness, criminality/indiscipline attitude; and also recommended the sanction of the Lagos State Commandant of the Corps which allowed evil acts to be perpetrated under his watch.

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Comrade Sulaiman who maintained that the Command has turned itself to mini court of law which innocent Nigeria would be held incommunicado over trumped-up-allegation, insisting that the men of NSCDC in the State had deliberately violated the fundamental human rights to fair arrest and hearing of Mr. Adedeji Adenekan as stipulated by the Section 34, 35 & 36 of the amended 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which says, every suspect is innocent until the Court of Competent Jurisdiction proves otherwise, promising that the rights group would approach the Court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress for innocent Mr. Adedeji Adenekan.

Part of the petition reads thus,” After our private investigation into the whole matter which we see that the whole process lack moral and legal justifications to keep the innocent citizen of this country incommunicado contrary to section 36 subsection (5) of the amended 1999 Constitution and it is very unfortunate that an Intelligent and investigative officer of NSCDC that could not deem it fit to take the matter to court when they discovered that the allegation are frivolous, malicious, defamation of character and character assassination against the personality of Mr. Adenekan Adedeji, who absolutely recognized by section 25 of FRN Constitution as amended.

Even, the almighty Mr. Rabiu Solomon and his king of doom, Bayo with other aides-in-crime refused to carry out DNA TEST to discover the authenticity suspect among the four of the suspected people alleged and criminally kept/enveloped into the NSCDC ‘ILLEGAL CELL’.

“Also, in the cause of our inquiry into the whole matter, the response of Mr. Rabiu Solomon was not favourable as he insisted that he could not take the matter to court when we insisted that the matter should be taking to court after ten (10) days of illegal incarceration of Mr. Adenekan Adedeji. But what we discovered was that it seems authority of the State command has mandated Mr. Rabiu Solomon to collect huge sum for the bail of any suspect in their custody as it applicable on the subject matter. The officers action and inaction do not in conformity with the Section 17 sub-section (2) a, b, c of the 1999 Constitution as amended where the 17(2)(b) stipulated that “ the sanctity of the human person shall be recognized and human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced; and (c) “governmental(official) actions shall be humane.

“CHRSJ sees the actions of Mr. Rabiu Solomon and his Company against Mr. Adenekan Adedeji as anathema, illegal, unlawful, abomination, aberration, ungodly, evil, undemocratic, anti-people, inhuman, disheartening, heartless, uncalled-for and unbecoming of an intelligent security official in the land, urging the authority of the NSCDC not to allowed Mr. Rabiu Solomon, Mr. Bayo and their co-travelers to use their opportunity of being working for government to return the country to the despotic dark days of Military Era under the guise of official duties.

The petition added that: “ it will interest you to hear that the above named officers detained Adenekan Adedeji, refused to take him as suspect to court within the reasonable stipulated time of the law, contrary to section 35 sub-section 4&5 of the amended 1999 Constitution, because the suspect biological father (Mr. Williams Adenekan) refused to yield to the #340,000 bribery part of the bail condition, demanded by Mr. Rabiu Solomon and his co-travelers in the saga which contrary to Section 98,99,172,209&494 of the Criminal Code Cap ‘C’ 38, 2010 FRN & Law of Federation 2010 and 5th schedule, part 1, section 6&8 of 1999 Constitution as amended”.

The group insisted that the devilish acts of the unscrupulous elements in the Civil Defence Corps led by Mr. Rabiu Solomon (DDC) and Mr. Bayo should be stopped and curtailed in the State by not allowing them to use their ineptitude and act of parochial interest to override the public interest, to destroy the hard earned reputation of the Corps.